Since when did car dealerships do ‘freebies’?!

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I took our ‘new-to-us-as-of-November-2012′ Toyota Rav4 to the dealership the other day to get a quote on something we wanted to get fixed (not essential but helpful). They took it in to get looked at as Zac and I duly occupied ourselves in the child-friendly waiting area… for over an hour!

Although I was becoming more grateful by the minute that they were fully kitted out with a variety of kids entertainment things (books, DVD’s, colouring books, bean-bags, etc.), after 1hr15 minutes I began to wonder if waiting this long for a simple quote was the reason why they were so prepared in this way!

After asking for an up-date on the car, the fellow finally came out with a paper in hand and proceeded to tell me all the figures I didn’t want to hear! Then he worked his way down the list. “We checked this, this and that. Those were ok but you had some light-bulbs that needed replacing which we did. We also topped up the oil and checked a few other things which were fine….”

Inside I was thinking “Argh… he’s done all this work and all I wanted was a quote!” I gratefully thanked him for all the work he had done and asked how much I owed him.

“Oh nothing – we’ll give you all that for free!” he said with a smile as he shook my hand and returned my key! “Just give me a call if there’s anything else I can do for you.”

Well I about fell off the chair before I even had the chance to stand up! Thank you Lord!

We haven’t ordered the part yet we got the quote for since, at that price, it’s now even more of a non-essential! But a few weeks ago the thought had crossed my mind “I know one of our light bulbs needs replacing… What’s the simplest/most cost effective way to go about doing that?… I’ll think about that later!”

I wish I could say I’d prayed about it but I hadn’t. And taking it to the dealership would have been the last answer I would have expected! “Thanks Lord for orchestrating my steps and taking care of the things I’m concerned about but don’t always think you are too!”

He’s at it again!

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Sunday evening May 19, Alex was preaching again at Chertsey Street Baptist Church. Unfortunately I was unable to attend but I heard encouraging reports from friends :) As soon as the recording link is live (from the church site), I’ll post it on the blog so we can all enjoy listening in!

Also stay tuned for an update report on how things may be shaping up for the future. There is a church members meeting on Wednesday (May 22) so we’ll probably be able to tell you more after that!

All our love and thanks again for reading :)

The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. (Psalm 16:9)

I just wanted to laugh!

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I was having a lovely afternoon chat in our back garden with a good friend about how Zac’s nap-time has been changing/disappearing! He is almost two and a half and clearly doesn’t want to miss a beat – although his energy sometimes gets the better of him!

I was telling her how pleased I was and that it was such an answer to prayer that Zac had actually been happy to be in his room the past few days as I’ve been trying to establish ‘quiet time’. He didn’t have to sleep but he could play quietly in his room for a while.

Yesterday he did end up sleeping and I thought the same night be true of today. However, when I came to the bottom of the stairs & saw a handful of toys had been thrown down, I had a feeling I should have been a little more suspicious of his quietness!

After my friend left, I headed upstairs to see if Zac was ready to come & play with me. I was greeted with a happy, singing little fella who showed me into his room and said “Uh-oh books!”

I looked on the windowsill where the row of books usually sat and there was not a single one in sight. Behind the drawers there was a pile peeking out… I was relieved he hadn’t thrown them out the window! So we picked them all up – the pile suspiciously small. “What did you do with the other books Zac?” “Out the window!” Was his reply!

Lo and behold, as I looked out the window, there was the large pile of remaining books – somewhat covered in broken bushes and mud! We went outside to pick them up, Zac with his head down as he knew “mummy very sad”! And the pile of books from the front out the house just looked hilarious! I wanted to burst out laughing and take pictures of this culprit with his trophy – but I knew that would not help matters!

What I do know now – is that perhaps I should be a little more wary when ‘quiet time’ becomes too quiet and possibly not assume that he is sleeping as I often hope he is! What a monkey!

What a difference a year makes!

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It’s just after Easter 2013. This time last year we were in California for a week, celebrating Easter with some wonderful friends of ours, while we were visiting The Master’s Seminary (TMS) just outside of Los Angeles. Why were we there? Without turning this post into a full-blown sermon (!) I’ll try to condense what’s been going on in our lives over this past year since Easter 2012.

Alex was given a booklet by our paster shortly after we joined Chertsey Street Baptist Church (CSBC) in Guildford, by Christopher Ash entitled “How Do I Know if Preaching Is For Me?”. Since becoming members at CSBC in 2007, Alex has been part of a group of guys from the church who are regularly involved with preaching. In his booklet Ash talks about what we do with our gifts as being primarily a principle of stewardship. This struck a chord with us. Not only has the idea of preaching/ministering God’s word full-time been bubbling away in the back of our hearts for a while now, but Alex’s desire to be trained and equipped to properly handle the Word of God has also increased.

As these desire grew and as we prayed and sought the Lord’s will for His direction in our lives, we began to push on doors, praying the Lord would clearly close off any path we shouldn’t go down. The opportunity came up for us to pay a visit to TMS in April 2012 so we jumped on it. Alex’s position at Tormead School was being made redundant at the end of the school year (this was announced after we decided to visit the seminary!), and so we continued to pray and commit our desires to the Lord.

Although we were keen to head off to seminary in the Autumn of 2012, the Elders at our church presented us with a proposal: that Alex take on an apprenticeship with the church, coupled with a part-time bible-training course in London (Proclamation Trust Cornhill) for a year with the option to extend it to two years. The purpose of taking on such a role would be two-fold: 1) for Alex to develop his skills and test his gifts with further training and behind-the-scenes hands-on church work experience; 2) to give the Elders and other church members time to intentionally pray and confirm whether Alex does have word ministry gifts.

One of our prayer requests as we sought the Lord about moving in this direction was that this calling/desire to be involved in some form of word ministry (and therefore to seminary for training and preparation for whatever lies ahead) would be confirmed through the Elders. And as they were the ones to initiate investigating Alex’s gifts in this area in the first place, we felt it was only right that in committing our plans to the Lord we accept their offer. (1 Pet. 5:5)

So in September 2012, Alex started his new schedule – two days a week in London for training and three days doing the apprenticeship at church, as well as increasing his speaking engagements on various Sundays at a handful of local churches.

Throughout the year we’ve continued to pray, visit a variety of seminaries here in the UK and also look at a number in the US. Recently Alex was able to visit a seminary in Louisville, Kentucky called Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) which proved to be an encouraging and helpful experience. 

Our desires to attend seminary for further training and equipping for future ministry remain strong. As yet no further decisions have been made as to which direction this may take us, but we wait with hope and anticipation for confirmation of what the Lord may have ahead. We’ll keep you posted as we can and thank you in advance for your prayers!

EN Photo Competition?

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A quick explanation on the previous post…

Alex & I were away recently for 10 days in North Wales at a Christian conference called New Word Alive. We had been asked by Evangelicals Now (the newspaper Naomi works with) to man a stall for the 10 days. One of the things we did was run a photo competition – we were looking for a great picture which would be published in the May issue of the newspaper alongside the article to be published about the conference. Lauren (9 years old) didn’t have a camera and was distraught that she may not have a chance to win the prize. So she decided to write a letter in the hope she could claim some fame – even if it wasn’t a picture! Very sweet!

Above all

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Above all powers, above all kings,
Above all nature and all created things;
Above all wisdom and the ways of man,
You were here before the world began.

Above all kingdoms, above all thrones,
Above all wonders this world has ever known;
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth,
There’s no way to measure what you’re worth.

Crucified, laid behind a stone;
You lived to die, rejected and alone;
Like a rose trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of us – above all.

(Lenny LeBlanc/Paul Baloche)